for my broken heart
by Sasha Marie
Summary: Zim has given up and accepted that he is about to die but Gaz steps in and changes everything. even if they can't mend each other's broken hearts they will always be there for the other.


AN: This is me, with a swollen face, on a prescription of loratabs and antibiotics, having an allergic reaction to said prescriptions and experimenting with a new writing style. Yeah there is no way I'm in my 'write' mind. Eh that wasn't even funny. Blame the dust bunnies that taste like chocolate. (not that I've tasted them.) Oh and I've seen a story written kinda like this once so I guess remembering that is what lead me to do this.

for my broken heart:

A tale for two voices

(Zim's PoV)

It's raining. It's always raining on this _stinking_ planet. It burns so much. I wish I'd brought an umbrella today but I didn't get to see the weather reports for today since Gir was watching the scary monkey show. It stings so much. I see shapes and shadows pass but none of them stop to help me. None of them care. I am nothing. My life means nothing. I am worthless. My tallest have abandoned me. My people would pay monies to see me killed.

I have nothing left. Wait. Someone has stopped. They stand over me looking down. I must look horrible. They're picking me up. Why? I try to struggle but I'm too weak. After a few seconds I give up and accept my fate. Why bother? I am nothing but an experiment waiting to happen. My heart is gone, my soul is rotten, and soon enough I'll be forgotten. I can't stay awake any longer. There's just too much pain. Just as I'm brought up to where I can get a good look at my captor everything goes black.

(Gaz's PoV)

I'm walking home in the rain. Not too far down the sidewalk is Zim, writhing in pain. I stop. He looks like he's given up on everything. He isn't even wriggling anymore. This is stupid. I should leave him but I can't. I refuse to sink as low as the rest of humanity. I pick him up and he seems to pass out. I carry him bridal style all the way home. I kick the door in and lay him down on the couch. "Don't worry Zim. If my brother tries to cut you open I'll rip him in half." With that reassurance I go up to my room to dry off and get on some clean clothes.

(Zim's PoV)

I come to on the Membrane's couch. I wonder vaguely who brought me here but can't figure it out. If it was Dib why would he leave me alone on the couch without restraint or sleep cuffs? If it was Gaz...Well, why would she even bother with saving me? Just then Gaz comes down from her room. I look up at her with confusion written on my face. She's wearing a black and purple miniskirt with skull patterns on it and a matching black and purple skull shirt. She looks in her own way very beautiful and I wonder why the change of attire.

Then I remember the rain. These were possibly the only clothes she had left that were clean. She picks me up and takes me to the bathroom. I don't struggle and don't fight. I'm far too confused to do anything but stare. //Why is she being so nice to me? I don't understand. Why should she even care?// My thoughts are cut short as she strips my clothes off and I shriek in pain when they take skin with them. She never flinches, she doesn't stop. Not until all my clothes are gone and I'm as naked as a newborn smeet.

She towels me dry and leaves. Probably to go get me some dry clothes. I hear the front door slam. "Gaz! Where's Zim?" I hear a low growl, presumably from the Gaz human. "He's in the bathroom and if you keep him from recovering I will give a whole new meaning to pain." She comes back in carrying not some of Dib's clean clothes but some of her own.

(Gaz's PoV)

I don't have too many clean outfits as today is laundry day, so I settle on wearing one I was saving for a special occasion. I slip into the black and purple skull print miniskirt and vaguely wonder what Zim will think when he sees me in it. I almost smile. He might jump to the conclusion that I want to seduce him. That'd be such a laugh.

I go back downstairs and notice he's awake. He looks so confused it's kind of cute. I repress the urge to smile. I pick him up and take him to the bathroom. He doesn't even struggle. He just looks up at me with wide innocent eyes, he looks like a kicked puppy. Something really world shattering must have happened to him for him to act or look this way. I strip off his clothes and he screams in pain. I don't flinch. I can't show weakness. I don't stop until he's completely naked and then I dry him off. I realize I didn't bring the spare clothes into the bathroom when I came up and changed so I go to get the spare clothes I set aside for him. The front door slams and I know immediately who it is by the sound of his annoying voice. He asks where Zim is so I tell him. I add a nice little threat in just to be safe.

I grab the clothes and go back to the bathroom.

(Zim's Pov)

She helps me into the clothes now that I've gotten enough strength back to move other than writhing and screaming. She is very gentle and her hands are soft except for her thumbs. I'm shivering hard. It's so cold in here. She leads me into her room and tucks me into her warm cozy bed. "What kind of food do your kind eat while they're recovering?" It takes a moment for the question to sink in. "Toast." She looks at me curiously with one amber eye. I just shrug. I ran out of irken foodstuffs long ago. Toast should sustain me though.

She's walking out the door. I should do something or say something to show her that I appreciate what she's doing. "Gaz." She stops and turns around. "Thanks, for everything." She shrugs and walks out the door. I can't help but wonder why she didn't leave me. Now that she's left me alone with my thoughts I can ponder on it.

(Gaz'sPoV)

I help him into the clothes, he seems to have regained at least a measure of strength. I try to be gentle as I can. I notice he's shivering hard enough to make his teeth chatter. //Is it really that cold? Maybe he caught a cold.// I take him into my room and tuck him into my bed. I ask him what his kind eats while they're recovering and he says toast. At least he has the decency to shrug. As I'm on my way to fix him some toast he says my name.

Just the way he says it so meek and tentative makes me stop and turn around. He says thanks. I shrug and walk out. I can't show weakness. I _won't_ show weakness. I won't let him in. I can't afford to. I'll only get hurt again. Just like when Mom left for 'the better place'. I stand to the side of door, fists clenched and shoulders shaking, trying to hold in all my emotions and slowly feeling all my walls crumbling. I can't help it. I try to hold it back but the tears are relentless. They spill forth like a dam has broken inside of me. I try my hardest to hold them back but they only fall faster.

Zim comes out after a little while and sees me standing here crying. He comes over to me with antennae back in a rather sympathetic posture. I can't take it anymore. I cling to him, burying my face in his chest. He just holds me as I cry. "You feel abandoned like Zim?" I look up at him wondering what he means. "Who abandoned you Zim?" His antennae wilt and he looks away. "Zim's entire race abandoned him." I pet one of his silky soft antennae, distantly wondering when he took his disguise off. I lead him back into the bedroom and have him get back in bed but this time I have him scoot over. I crawl into the bed with him. He may not have the armada or his tallest or anyone else of the irken race for that matter, but he'll always have me.

(Zim's PoV)

After she's gone for a few minutes I decide I'd like to look around the house. I find her in the hallway crying. I've never seen her show weakness nor hurt before. I must approach her carefully right now as I have observed when crying, a human mind is quite fragile. She takes the approach out of my hands as she chooses the next moment to cling to me and pour her burning tears onto my chest. I ask her if she feels abandoned like me. She looks up at me with shiny wet eyes and asks me who I was abandoned by. I was abandoned by everyone. My antennae wilt and I look away, telling her the truth. She leads me back into the room, has me get in the bed and scoot over. Surprisingly enough she climbs in with me. I may not have the armada or the tallest anymore but it looks like I at least have a friend, someone worth fighting for. And if she ever needs it she has me. I know we'll never be able to heal each other's broken hearts but we can still mend the wounds a little by being there for each other. I'll always be there for her broken heart to pick up the pieces. And she'll always be there for my broken heart to pick up the pieces.


End file.
